Combined loader ejector and safety mechanism for automatic firearms



Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,845

C. SUTTER COMBINED LOADER EJECTOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 21. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 L'harZes J ulwr Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,845 a c. SUTTER COMBINED LOADER EJECTOR AND SAFEDY'MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 21, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Jan. 17, 1928.

I c. SUTTER COMBINED LOADER EJECTOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 21, 1927 4 Sheets-Shet 5 i f 1 I I I a i 1% x 3 i a RY a Q N N q Q N J 6 Q; K

Inut'nl'br Charles J ud'er I? mew 9M flZZ'orn'y-S.

Jan. 17, 928. 1,656,845

- c. SUTTER COMBINED LOADER EJECTQR AND SAFETY MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS I File Jun 21, 1927 4 sheets-sheet 4 lIIII/IIII/Il Passed Jan. 17,1928.

UNITED STATES 1,656,845 PATENT oer-"E.

names SUTTER,.0F sunnsnns, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR :ro socrn'rn moms nns ANCIENS nmnmssnmnnrs norcnxxss a oommemn, on ST. nnms, snmn,

FRANCE, A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY OF names. 7

COMBINED LOADER EJ'ECTOR AND SAFETY MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS.

Application filed June 21, 1927, Serial No The present invention concerns certain improvements in automatic fire-arms and relates more particularly to improvements in the mechanism permitting the stoppage c of the fire-arm after the cartridges contained therein have been used up.

The idea has already been conceived inthe case of certain automatic fire-arms using as feed means loading cases in which an ina 10 ternal spring brings the cartridges successively before the breech-block, of utilizing the loading tray (or push piece), interposed between the cartridges and the spring, to stop the fire-arm after the cartridges have been used up, said tra taking the place of the final cartridge an forming), in a way, a stop by'means of which the reech-block is arrested. In other devices a checking sear is used, the nose of which is held out- 2o side the path of the breech block by thecartridges themselves, said sear stopp ng said block when the cartridges are used up.

'- These various devices have several drawbacks; in the first case, the tray is subas block and a rapid deformation ensues therefrom, either in the tray or in the loading case, which roduces defective pro ession of the cartridges through the loa er and risks of j ammingowing to the cartridge being defectively presented before the block; in the second case, the sear must be actuated by a.comparatively weak spring so as not v tohinder the descent of the cartridges and, in consequence, its arresting action is only more or less eflicacious, besides, a scar of this kind can only be'used in' connectionwith loaders in-which the cartridges are arranged in a single line and not in quincunx.

v never sure that the stoppa e m the action ofhis fire-arm is due to 1; c loadcrbei'ng exhausted and is not due to h1s fire-arm bemg ammed, owing for example'to the fact wedged. If,'on the stoppage of'the re-arm and under the impression that all the car- -.tridges have been fired, the marksman re- 45m moves the loader this may result in the shot going es and,consequently, inaserious accident. The fire-arms egixlipped with the above devices therefore in restricted safety. i

jected to repeated: blows from the breech -Furthermore, in both cases the fireris that a cartridge is faultily enga ed or.

e foronly very- 200,402, and in France February 23, 1921.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these defects and the mechanism to which it applies, not only stops the firearm after the cartridges have been used up,

but also automatically ejects the loader, so that, if-the fire-arm stops for any other reason than that the cartridge supply is exhausted, the loader not being firer' will immediately reahze that the loader still contains cartridges and that, consequently, the breech block must be brought back to full cocked position before this fire-arm is handled in any way.

The mechanism according tion is essentially characterized by the com-- bination of a checkin sear capable of engaging in a correspon in recess of the fire arms breech block in or er to arrest it, and of an oscillator hinged to the loading tray arm of which, after the cartridges have been used up, takes the place of the last cartridge fired, and is then acted on by a the ejected, the,

to the inven- (or push piece) of the loader and the lower breech block, in such wise that,'throug any suitable means, the upper arm causes the sear to engage with the breech block, means being provided for holding the loader in place during fire. and for automatically ejecting, it after the cartridges have been placement of the slide withou a corresponding, displacement of the sear.

According to a characteristic of the inven tion, inorder to permit the upper arm of the oscillator, which ishinged to the end of --the loading tray and is located within the loader, to act on.t he displaceable slide which is located outside the loader, a port of suitable shape is made in'the wall of'the-loaderfacing said upper arm and said slide and through which the said arm canpass.

Aci ording'tb the invention, the meansenabling'the loaderto be kept in place during tion of its spring, into its forward position in which it. holds said shoulder in place.-

fire and to be automatically ejected after the cartridges have been used up, .consist in a shoulder carried externally by' the lower rear wall of the loading case the front part of which is mounted according to any known arrangement, the said shoulder being held in position at its upper part by the front end of the aforesaid slide an at its lower part, by the end of a toe carried by the checking sear, the automatic eg'ection of the loader following from the act that, after the cartridges have been exhausted, the oscillator causes the slide to shift longitudinally, said slide being thereby freed from the shoulder, whilst, during the ensuing pivoting -ofv the checking sear, the aforesaid toe raises the said shoulder and ejects the loader.

According to the invention, the front part of the slide is suitably profiled so that, on the loader being placed in position, the aforesaid-shoulder may itself displace said slide (corresponding to the play provided between the slide and the push button) which, as soon as the shoulder takes up its normal position, will returnfunder the ac- The forward movement of said slide is checked by a fixed or adjustable stop.

According to'a characteristic of the in "vention, means are provided for enabling the loader to be. removed even though it still contains cartridges, these means com 1- prising, for example, a pivoting lever having ,a nose which, by cooperating with a tail carried by the slide, shifts said slide longitudinally to a suflicient extent to free it from the shoulder.

Other characteristics and peculiarities of the invention will be gathered from the description which is about to be made thereof in" conjunction with the accompanying drawin s in which: I

ig. 1 shows the fire-arm in firing position, cartridges being contained in the loading case.

Fig. 1 shows the position of the various parts 'of the mechanism according to the invention after the cartridge supply has been exhausted.

Fig. 2 shows the same mechanism at the instant when the breech block has come into contact with the oscillator.

Fig. 3 shows the same mechanism the leader has been ejected.

In the accompanying drawings, the mechanism accordin after position (full-cocked). This breech block performs a reciprocating-motion and is drivto the invention is supposed to be app ied to an automatic fire-arm en, from rear to front, by its return spring and, from front to rear, by the gas pressure resulting from the explosion of the cartridge fired off. The fire-arm A is fed with cartridges by means of a loading case 1 through the breach block B which pushes them into the barrel and fires them off.

According to the inventionyan oscillator 6 is hinged at 5 to the rear end of the loading tray 4, said oscillator having an upper arm 8 and a lower arm 7 which, after the cartridges2, have been completely used up, and as may be seen in particular in Fig. 2, can take up the position of the final cartridge fire, i. e. the position in which it is in the path of the breech block B. The upper arm -8of the oscillator 6 is located facing a port '9 made in the rear wall of "the loader 1, which enables this arm 8 to come into contact with the end of a slide 10, on

pivoting of the oscillator 6 (brought about as will be explained later) whichv slide ma in its turn, through the medium of a pm button 11, act on the arm 12 of a checking sear 13 hinged at 14 on the receiver and the nose 15 of which can engage in a recess 16 of the breech block B. A spring 17 lodged in-a recess of the slide 10 and inserted between the bottom of this recess and the push button 11 applies this push button and said slide'respectively against the arm 12 cube sear 13 and against a sto 26 .of which more will be said hereafter t is stop limits the forward movement of the slide 10. A certain amount of play as seen 'at 18, is pro vided between the head of the push button 11 and the slide 10, so as to allow thisslide to be displaced eventually without a corresponding pivot movement of the sear 13 taking place. This latter hasmoreover a toe 19 the front end of which ma be actuated by the lower edge of a shoul cf 20 carried externally by the rear wall of the loader 1, slightly below the. port 9. This shoulder 20 may be held in place at its upper end by the slide 10 itself. as seen in Fig.1, and the breadth of this shoulder is such that when the slide 10 is displaced. through a distance 1 equal to the play 18'which exists between said slide and the push button 11, this slide 10 is completely disengaged from the shoulder 20'so as to free this latter.

The relative position of the recess 16 md of'the usual stop notch 21 of the block B is such that when this block is maintained in the full cocked position by the sear O 4 (as shown in Fig. 1), the nose 15 is slightly to the rear of the recess 16, and, conversely, when the breech block B is kept stationary by the nose 15 (as shown in Fig. 3), this block has still a slight distance to traverse,

' after the nose 15 has been freed, before beng arrested by the sear C. With the above described device, the loader is mounted in the following manner: The front part is first of all mounted in the usual manner as at 5. It is then swivelled round 5. The shoulder 20 then comes into contact with the slide 10 the profile of the corre sponding end of which is such that this shoulder 20 automatically thrusts back the slide 10, i. e. shifts it longitudinally through a distance equal to the play 18. The loader can then be lowered completely and brought into the position shown in Fig. 1. As soon as it attains this position, under the action of the spring 17, the slide 10 returns into its forward position in which it bears against the upper part of the shoulder 20. As moreover this shoulder abuts at its lower part against the toe 19 of the sear 13 the loader is firmly held in position. It will be noticed that the shoulder 20 can be mounted whatever the position of the sear 13 may be.

, For if, as shown in Fig. 1, the breech block is in the full cocked position, that is to say the sear 13 raised and its toe 19 lowered, the shoulder 20 will simply bear against the end of this sear. On the contrary if, as shown in Fig. 3, the breech block is kept stationary by the nose 15, that is to say if the sear is in its lowered position and the'toe -19 in its raised position, on the loader being set'in place, the shoulder 20' will bear against the i end of this toe and will cause the sear 13 to pivot. The nose 15 will then be disengaggg from the recess 16 and the breech B will be displaced slightly forward so as. to come into the full cocked position. 'The shoulder 20 by lowering the too 19 will come into the position shown in Fig. 1 in which,

as described above, it is held both by the toe 19'and the slide 10.-

' The actioii of this device is as follows: In 7 I normal firing position as shown in Fig. 1,

' thebreech block B reclprocates and, at each forward stroke, causes a cartridge 2 to be introduced into the fire-arm and exploded. The above described mechanism is then idle. On the other hand, as soon as the last cartridge has been fired, under the action of its spring 3, the loading tray 4 comes into the position shown in Fig. 1 in which the arm of the oscillator 6 occupies the position of the final'cartridge fired. In consequence, when the breech block B enters on its for-- ward stroke, it acts on the arm '7 and-causes the oscillator 6 to pivot, the arm 8 of which thereby causes the slide 10 to be shifted'longitudinally towards the rear (Fig. 2). During this displacement, the slide 10,- through the medium of the spring'17 andthe push button 11 acting on the arm 12, will cause by the cartridge supply being completely exhausted and he will then be able 'to' proceed to remove and replace the loader with absolute safety. On the contrary, if the firearm is stopped for one reason or another, for example owing to a faulty insertion of the cartridges, the loader will not be ejected and,

consequently, the firer will be sure that there are still cartridges in the loader and that, consequently, before handling the fire-arm in any manner, the breech block must be brought back into the full cocked position and that, possibly, this fire-arm must even be brought into the safety position. In this manner, all risks of accidents, which might result from dismount-ing the loader when it still contains cartridges unknown to the firer,

will be avoided.

Another advantage ofthe 'de'v'ice according to'theinvention lies in the fact that the spring 17 may be of considerable strength without the descending movement of the cartridge being hindered thereby. For the spring 17 acts on the slide 10 the forward movement of which, that is to say the sole movement which might 'interferewith the movement of the cartridges, is checked by the stop 26. The comparatively great strength of this spring 17 will enable it, on acting on the arm 12 of the sear 13 through the medium of the push button 11, to cause the nose 15 to sink rapidly and, in consequence, to effect a definite stoppage of the breech block B. It is only necessary to preserve acertain ratio between the force of the spring 17 and that of the fire-arms re turn spring, which ratio is a function of the ratio of the length ofthe arms 7 and 8 of the oscillator 6, and :this in order that the forward movement of the block B, under the action of its return spring may take place smoothly.

According to the invention, means-are provided for enabling the loader to. be dismounted although still containing car-' tridges, these means enabling a slight displacement of the slide 10 to be efiected, corresponding to the play 18, and suflicient to disengage this slide from the shoulder 20. It is then only necessary to act on the loader itself in order to withdraw it with ease. According to the form of embodiment illustrated, these means comprise a lever 22 pivoting about a fixed pin 23 and'having a nose 24 which, when the lever 22 is brought into the position'shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, acts on a toe 25 in one piece with the slide 10. This device might be replaced by an ordinary hook in one piece with the toe 25 and directly controllable by hand.

Owing to the play 18, the slide is displaced without a corresponding displacement of the sear 13. It is the lever 22 which carries the stop 26 which, as has been explained above, checks the forward movement of the slide 10. i j

It is moreover self-evidentt-hat the invention has only been described and represented here in amerely explanatory but by no means limitative manner and that it could be subjected to various modifications of detail without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim- 1. In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type, having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism comprising oscillating means adapted to replace the final cartridge tired and to be oscillated by said breech block, means for simultaneously arresting said breech block and ejecting the loader, and a member through the medium of which said oscillating means on being actuated by said breech block move said block arresting and loader ejecting means into operative position.

2, In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type, having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an arm to said oscillator adapted to come into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby, means for simultaneously arresting said breech block and ejecting said loader, and a member through the medium of which said oscillator on being actuated by said breech block moves said block arresting-and loader eject ing means into operative position.

3, In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type, having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an arm to said oscillator adapted to come 'into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby, pivoted means for simultaneously arresting said breechblock and ejecting said loader, and a slide through the medium of which said oscillator on being actuated by said arm to said oscillator, a pivoted searadapted to be swung into position for simultaneously arresting said breech block and ejecting said loader, and a slide through the medium of which said second arm of said oscillator moves said sear into operative position;

5. In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type having a reciprocating breech block,'a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an arm to said oscillator adapted to come into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby,-a pivoted sear, a nose to said sear, a recex in said breech block into which said nose can descend and arrest said block, a shoulder carried by the loader, a slide, a toe to said sear, said shoulder being normally maintained in place between said slide and said toe, and asecondarm to said oscillator adapted through the oscillating action of said breech block on said first arm to displace said slide out of engagement with said shoulder, said sear through the displacement.

of said slide pivoting into block arresting and loader ejecting position.

6. In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loaderv ejector and safety mechanism comprising a loading tray, an os-v cillator hinged within the loader to said loading tray and progressingv therewith an arm to said oscillator adapted to come Into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby, a slide, a. port made in the loader, a second armto said oscillator adapt-- ed through the oscillating action of saidbreech block to pass through said port and displace said slide, and a pivoted sear moved through the displacement of said. slide into osition for simultaneously arresting sai reech block and ejecting said loader.

7. In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type'ha-ving a reciprocatin breech block, a combined loader ejector add safety.

mechanism comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged within the loader to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an

arm to said oscillator adapted to. come into the path of said breech'block and to be oscillated thereby, a slide, a port made in the loader, a second arm to said oscillator adapted through the oscillating action of said breech block to pass through said port and displace said slide, a pivoted sear, a nose to said sear adapted to arrestsaid block on the pivoting of said sear, a shoulder on the loader, a toe to said sear normally cooperating with said slide to maintain said shoulder in place, said slide by its displacement becoming free of said shoulder and pivoting said sear into block arresting and loader ejecting position.

8. In a fire-arm ot' the cartridge loader feeding type having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism, comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an arm to said oscillator adapted to come into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby, a pivoted sear for simultaneously arresting said breech block and. ejectin said loader, an arm to said sear, a slide located opposite said sear arm with slight play between, and a second arm to said oscillator adapted through the oscillating action of said breech block to displace said slide sufiiciently to pivot said sear into block arresting and oader ejecting position.

9. In a fire-arm of the cartridge loader feeding type having a reciprocating breech block, a combined loader ejector and safety mechanism, comprising a loading tray, an oscillator hinged to said loading tray and progressing therewith, an arm to said oscillator adapted to come into the path of said breech block and to be oscillated thereby, a pivoted scar for simultaneously arresting said breech block and ejecting said loader, an arm to said sear, a slide, a spring push button to said slide located near said gear arm with slight play between, a stop limiting the movement ofsaid slide away from said sear arm, and a second arm to said oscillator adapted through the oscillating action of said breech block to displace said slide sufficiently to pivot said sear into operative position.

CHARLES SUTTER. 

